New 2019-2020 school year begins for 464,000 students in Croatia

On the very first day of the new school year on Monday, President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovc visited a primary and secondary school in Zagreb's eastern suburb of Sesvete and on that occasion she wished students and teachers throughout Croatia all the best in the ongoing school year.

Asked by the press whether everybody was ready for the implementation of the curricula reform, the president said that it was up to teaching staff to assess their preparedness, and added that she would always support the reform of the schooling system in efforts to help Croatia to catch up with the most developed countries in the world.

In her address to the secondary school students in Sesvete, the president called on them to enhance their skills and knowledge and also to use the advantages offered to them abroad but to come back to Croatia and enrich their homeland with their knowledge.

"We need you, new generations, free of old ideologies and rich in knowledge," she underscored.

She also called for mutual respect among students and for development of team work competences as well as taking advantage of opportunities offered through Croatia's membership of the European Union and globalisation.

Curricula reform in 1st and 5th grade of primary schools, in 1st grade in secondary schools

Education and Science Minister Blazenka Divjak on Monday morning visited a primary school in the suburb of Gracani and expressed satisfaction with the beginning of the implementation of the curricula reform.

New curricula are being implemented in first and fifth grade of primary schools and in Biology, Chemistry and Physics for 7th graders as well as in first grade in high schools and four-year vocational schools for general subjects. The new curricula is being applied to as many as 150,000 students.

Primary and secondary schools throughout Croatia opened their doors to slightly over 464,000 students on Monday, according to statistics provided by the Education Ministry.

Of those, 318,000 are elementary school students, including 38,000 first graders, and 146,000 are attending secondary school education.